Massecuite director for continuous centrifugal



T. R. LAVEN 3,393,805

TOR FOR CONTINUOUS CENTRIFUGAL July 23, 1968 MASSECUITE DIREC FIG.2-

Filed June 13, 1966 ATTO EY United States Patent 3,393,805 MASSECUITEDIRECTOR FOR CONTINUOUS CENTRIFUGAL Thomas R. Laven, Hamilton, Ohio,assignor to The Western States Machine Company, Hamilton, Ohio, acorporation of Utah Filed June 13, 1966, Ser. No. 556,971 6 Claims. (Cl.210-214) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stream of massecuite fallingfreely from a spout orifice into a continuously rotating upwardly opencentrifugal basket is guided constantly to a desired delivery locationat the basket bottom by a rod fixed substantially on the axis of theorifice, extending downwardly into the basket inside the stream, andterminating above the basket bottom. The delivery location is variableby bending the guide rod or by turning it eccentrically. A perforatedtube used as the guide rod serves also for introducing a treating fluidinto the stream entering the basket.

The present invention relates to continuously operating centrifugalmachines for separating liquid and solid components of a feed material.More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus for guiding astream of viscous liquid material pouring into a basket of acontinuously rotating centrifugal machine of the type used in themanufacture and the refining of sugar.

In the use of such machines for extracting and cleansing sugar crystals,massecuite is continuously supplied to a rotating conical basket whichis perforated to separate the mother liquor and wash liquid from thesugar crystals. Massecuite may be fed into a basket through a conduitextending therein, or poured into the upwardly opening end of a basketwhich rotates on a vertical axis. The extension of a feed conduit into avertically oriented basket to direct the flow of material isunsatisfactory because of the difficulty of observing the flow therefromand the possibili y of clogging. It is therefore desirable to pourmaterial from an overhead spout having a discharge orifice directing thematerial into the basket.

As in the case of a conduit extension, it is necessary accurately toadjust the direction of delivery of the material with reference to theaxis of rotation of the basket to assure that the stream of maierialbeing fed will strike the bottom of the rotating basket in an area whichwill effect its most efficient distribution in the basket. A commonpractice is to place a windage shield around and below the discharge endof an overhead spout to ameliorate the disturbing effect of windage inthe basket on a free-falling s'ream as it traverses the space betweenthe spout and the lower end of the basket. A shielding arrangement isdisadvantageous in that it requires exact positioning of parts at thetime of installation. Moreover, a shielding arrangement does not readilypermit adjustments during a continuous operation should the fluidity ofthe material change. Changes in fluidity occur with changes oftemperature, or because of variance of the consistency of the material,or change of the degree of crystallization of the massecuite beingsupplied.

For efficient operation massecuite should be delivered directly onto animperforate lower portion of a basket so that it may be ini.iallyaccelerated before it flows onto the filtering portion of the basketover which it is moved by centrifugal action. From whatever cause, achange in fluidity effects erratic flow conditions. It causes change inthe course or pah of the falling stream, change in the area of impact ofthe stream in a basket, and sometimes causes a stream of massecuite tocome into contact with the interior of the windage shield and build upthereon suflficiently to overflow the top of the curb of the machine.

It is among the objects of the invention to control the pattern ofmaterial in a continuously flowing stream and the course or path of thestream in its descent from the discharge orifice of a feed pipe.

Another object is to provide means for directing a freely falling streamto a desired location in a centrifuging basket.

Another object is to provide readily accessible means for facilitatingadjustment of the course of a free-falling stream during a treatingprocedure and thus avoid temporary stoppages of a machine.

According to the present invention, it has been discovered that thetendency of a free-falling stream of a viscous liquid material, such assugar massecuite or the like, to wander, splash, or be blown away fromthe desired location of delivery of the material into a continuouslyrotating centrifugal basket can be overcome or greatly reduced, so as tokeep the location of delivery substantially constant, by training thestream upon and along a substantially vertical guide rod located insidethe stream at the origin thereof and having its lower end spaced above.and directed toward the desired delivery location in the basket.

Further, it has been found that the location of the delivery of thestream in the basket can be adjusted to a considerable extent, withoutneed for any change of the relative positions of the spout orifice andthe basket, by simply adjusting the position or inclination of the guiderod so as to have it lead the stream to the desired location.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description of preferredembodiments thereof and from the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1is a fragmentary sectional view through the vertical axis of acentrifugal machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of an alternative structureincluding a tubular guide rod whereby a treating fluid may be introducedinto the stream of viscous liquid material being guided on the rod intothe basket;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a mounting structure for aguide rod whereby the location and direction of the rod may be adjustedto vary the location in the basket to which the pouring stream ofmaterial will be delivered; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of part of the structure of FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, a centrifugal basket 10 having an upwardly openingperforated conical wall 11, a lower imperforate end structure 12, and acentral hub 13 is mounted for rotation on a vertical axis. The hub 13 isconnected to and is rotated by a shaft 14 journalled in a cylindricalhousing 15. The housing supports bearings for the shaft and is itselfsupported from a stationary base plate (not shown) by a plurality ofarms 16 which extend from the housing 15 to mountings on the base plate.A pulley 17 keyed to the lower end of the shaft 14 is driven by belts 18to rotate the shaft and the basket.

The lower end structure 12 of the basket contains an annular liningmember 19 which is removably attached thereto. The lining member extendsannularly around the hub 13 and overlies the imperforate lower end ofthe basket to form an upwardly opening accelerating bowl or cup having aslightly conical inner surface 20 and an outwardly flaring lip 21 overwhich material passes from the cup onto a filtering screen (not shown)which has its lower end clamped by lip 21 and covers and lies over theperforate conical wall 11 of the basket.

As material leaves the accelerating cup 19 and ascends over the screenoverlying the conical wall of the basket liquid is extracted into achamber 22 surrounding the basket. The solids, such as sugar crystals,are discharged over the top rim 23 of the basket into a chamber 24 whichis separated from the chamber 22 by a cylindrical partition 25. Thedifferent phases of the material are conducted away from the respectivechambers by appropriate chutes as is Well understood.

The flow of material from the accelerating cup is caused by thecentrifugal force developed on material pouring continuously into thecup from a spout 30 having a downwardly opening discharge orifice 31above the basket 10. The orifice is defined by the inner circumferenceof a ring 32 removably supported by a ring 33 which is welded in placein the open end of the spout.

A pressure head is maintained in the spout 30 by a supply of thematerial contained in a tank 34. The material in the tank is replenishedas needed to continuously deliver a stream S of material throughout acontinuing centrifuging operation.

Variations of the pressure head in the spout affect the velocity of flowof the stream pouring therefrom. The velocity of the stream can becontrolled by the operation of a gate valve 35 in the line between thesource of supply and the spout 30. Any suitable system for controlling avalve, such as the one disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,223,283,may be used for maintaining a substantially constant pressure headconducive to a constant rate of flow.

According to the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1, a substantiallyvertical guide rod 36 is attached to the upper wall portion of the spout30 and is suspended therefrom through the orifice of ring 32 anddownwardly into the basket so as to extend inside and along the desiredpath of the stream S of viscous liquid material pouring from theorifice.

As shown, the rod 36 is welded to a bushing 37 in threaded engagementwith a neck 38 extending upwardly from the spout at a location thereonfrom which the rod normally extends downwardly along or near to the axisof flow of material pouring through the orifice. The rod preferably iscylindrical but is long enough to reach into the accelerating cup 19 toa desired location spaced above the bottom 39 of the cup, where the rodterminates in a lower end that preferably is rounded.

The guide rod is positioned to direct the free-falling stream pouringfrom the orifice onto the bottom surface 39 of the accelerating cup at alocation thereon where the desired even accelerating effect upon theinflowing material may be expected.

It has been found that the free-falling stream of viscous liquidmaterial pouring downward along the guide rod 36 exhibits improvedcohesion and stability against Wind currents and other disturbances as aresult of the presence of the rod, and tends to cling to and follow therod so that the direction of flow and location of delivery of thepouring stream can be influenced beneficially by the presence of theguide rod. The rod causes the stream to remain stable and to enter thebasket at the desired location under conditions, such as variations ofthe basket windage, variations of the static head of the mass of supplymaterial, or variations of its fluidity, which heretofore have resultedin troublesome splashing and misdirection of the flow of the fallingstream.

The guide rod may be simply a solid metal rod or bar, for example, oneof /2-inch diameter corrosion resistant steel, that is sufficientlyrigid to retain the position given to it in relation to the spoutorifice and the centrifugal basket. Such a rod may be mounted in placesubstantially as shown in FIG. 1, and if desired, it may be bent ordeformed somewhat away from a true vertical position, as by applying asuitable force by hand to its free lower end portion, to vary theposition of its lower end and thus select a desired location for thedelivery of the stream guided by the rod.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the guide rodcan be in the form of a substantially rigid tube connected at its upperend with a source of a treating fluid, for example, water or steamserving to dilute or to heat the molasses content of the materialpouring into the basket. The tube is provided with one or more outletopenings below the spout orifice for delivering the treating fluid intothe pouring stream. A tube 40 of the character described is illustratedin FIG. 2. The tube is attached to the upper wall portion of a spout 41and is suspended therefrom through the discharge orifice 42 of the spoutand downwardly into a basket. Its lower end is located to direct afree-falling stream S of material onto the bottom surface 43 of anaccelerating cup 44.

The tube is connected to a conduit 45 through which a treating fluid maybe fed to the tube for delivery therefrom through any number of openingsin the tube as may be required to accomplish the treatment desired. Anumber of perforations 46 are shown for illustrative purposes, but it isto be understood that their size, number and arrangement along andaround the tube are dependent upon the nature of the treating fluid andthe distribution thereof desired. For some operations the delivery of atreating fluid can be limited to the lower end of an openended tube. Theuse of a heated fluid to increase the temperature and fluidity of thefeed material will often improve the separating effects of thecentrifugal machine. Water may be continuously introduced for thepurpose of diluting the liquid component of the material undergoingprocessing.

A modified mounting for a guide rod is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4,where the rod 47 is shown fixed eccentrically to a cap 48 mounted on aneck 49 above the discharge orifice of the spout 50. Since the rodsupported to one side of the center of the cap, the position of thelower end of the rod in the centrifugal basket can be adjusted bychanging the position of the cap 48 on neck 49, without resort to abending of the rod itself. Bolts 51 or other suitable fasteners for thecap can be released to enable a change of the cap and rod position, andthen refastened.

While the principle of the invention and a preferred way of putting itinto practice have been described hereinbefore, it will be evident tothose skilled in the art that various alterations and substitutions maybe made without departing from the substance of the invention, which isintended to be defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for directing a stream of viscous liquid material such asmassecuite from a source of supply thereof into a continuously rotatingupwardly open centrifugal basket, comprising a spout communicating withsaid source and having a downwardly opening discharge orifice from whicha free-falling stream of the material pours continuously into the basketand means including a substantially vertical guide rod mounted on saidspout and extending through said orifice inside and along the path offlow of said stream therethrough for training said stream below saidorifice to a substantially constantly positioned pour path leading to adesired location at the bottom of the basket, said rod extendingdownwardly from said orifice into the basket in the direction towardsaid location, and inside said stream, and terminating in a lower endportion thereof spaced above the basket bottom at said location.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, there being means on a part of saidspout spaced above said orifice for holding said rod suspended freelythrough said orifice substantially on the axis of the flow of saidmaterial therethrough.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, said rod being sufficiently rigid toretain a given position yet being deformable by forcible displacement ofsaid lower end portion so as to vary the location of the delivery ofsaid stream into the basket.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, and means eccentric to the lowerportion of said rod for holding said rod suspended freely through saidorifice, said eccentric means being turnable relative to said spoutabout a substantially vertical axis for adjustment of the position ofsaid lower portion so as to vary the location of the delivery of saidstream into the basket while the basket is rotating.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, said orifice being circular and saidguide rod being cylindrical, being positioned substantially on the axisof said orifice, and having a rounded lower end.

'6. Apparatus according to claim 1, said guide rod being a substantiallyrigid tube connected with a source of a fluid for treating said viscousliquid material, and having at least one outlet opening through the sidewall thereof for delivering said fluid continuously into said stream.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,839,941 1/1932 Zelezniak210377 X 3,207,627 9/1965 Dietzel et al. 210-380 X 3,283,910 11/1966Grieselhuber et a1. 210377 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,316,550 12/ 1962 France.

1,383,840 11/ 1964 France.

OTHER REFERENCES Newell, L. C., Experiments in Practical Chemistry,Heath and Company, New York, 1923, p. 7.

SAMIH N. ZAHARNA, Primary Examiner. J. DE CESARE, Assistant Examiner.

